Danby Chill'n Tap Kegerator - Help!

[swoffert]

I just bought a Danby Chill'n Tap Kegerator (5.2 cu ft) from Costco. At $369, it is a sweet deal....or so I thought. I got it up and running last night, put on the coupler and hose, went to put the keg in it....and it would not fit!!! The keg is a standard 1/6 size keg - 23 3/8th inches high. I had to put the keg in tipped from front to back to make it fit...thereby having the line slightly crimped. Anyone else have this problem?

BTW - Danby manual (which is poorly written) says the kegerator can hold a standard 15.5 gallon barrel.

Thank you, Tom

 

[Jablestein]

I'm curious if you ever got this working. I saw a guy carting one of these out of Costco the other day and I'm considering getting one. The ratings on Costco are pretty positive (for whatever that's worth) and if it can truly hold a full 15.5 gallon Keg, that would be awesome! What's your impression been thus far? Worth the money?

 

[jbaysurfer]

That unit sucks. I bought one, and replaced it within a month. I have a free one (keeping the tower/tank/regulator/tap though, if anyone wants to come pick it up.

I never had a problem fitting a keg in it though, that's really weird. OP, what brand of beer was it/kind of keg?

If you like tweaking though, there's some fairly involved/descriptive threads that can help you get it working acceptably:
http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-...7-danby-kegerator-improvements-part-ii-4.html

 

[Jablestein]

That unit sucks. I bought one, and replaced it within a month. I have a free one (keeping the tower/tank/regulator/tap though, if anyone wants to come pick it up.

I never had a problem fitting a keg in it though, that's really weird. OP, what brand of beer was it/kind of keg?

If you like tweaking though, there's some fairly involved/descriptive threads that can help you get it working acceptably:
http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-...7-danby-kegerator-improvements-part-ii-4.html

Heh, well if I lived in Cali I'd come pick it up. Out of curiosity, what did you hate about it so much?

 

[jbaysurfer]

Heh, well if I lived in Cali I'd come pick it up. Out of curiosity, what did you hate about it so much?

For starters, this is IME (and of course the experience of many many many people posting on threads all across the internet, but I'm not trying to slander or make blanket statements):
I doesn't work unless you do these mods. At first it cools just fine (well down to the mid 40s at least even though the thermostat might be set to 38), but there's something weird about the auto-defrost mode/programming that doesn't work right.

In time your temps will creep up and up and up until you have the thing set at 38 (it's lowest setting) and it can't hold 60 in a 75 degree room. You can unplug/replug it and it kind of resets the auto-defrost, cools down again, but then the same pattern starts over.

I bought a fridge that works much better but makes some god awful cracking sounds for some reason and built that out. I also now have 8 taps in 2 upright fridges in my garage, so this is just a dead cabinet taking up space. Probably put it on Craigs soon.

 

[Jablestein]

For starters, this is IME (and of course the experience of many many many people posting on threads all across the internet, but I'm not trying to slander or make blanket statements):
I doesn't work unless you do these mods. At first it cools just fine (well down to the mid 40s at least even though the thermostat might be set to 38), but there's something weird about the auto-defrost mode/programming that doesn't work right.

In time your temps will creep up and up and up until you have the thing set at 38 (it's lowest setting) and it can't hold 60 in a 75 degree room. You can unplug/replug it and it kind of resets the auto-defrost, cools down again, but then the same pattern starts over.

I bought a fridge that works much better but makes some god awful cracking sounds for some reason and built that out. I also now have 8 taps in 2 upright fridges in my garage, so this is just a dead cabinet taking up space. Probably put it on Craigs soon.

Well, I appreciate the honesty. I guess you get what you pay for in the end. That's sort of disappointing to hear though since it seems to have decent reviews from other folks.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Well, I appreciate the honesty. I guess you get what you pay for in the end. That's sort of disappointing to hear though since it seems to have decent reviews from other folks.

Yeah, the reviews suckered me in too. Maybe I just got a bad one, but I have a friend in Hawaii that bought the same one and had a similar experience. Maybe if you keep it in a consistently cool place like a basement it's better? Good luck to ya...I'll be building out my own kegerators from here on out.

 

[Daves69]

I have one although it is a few years old now but it fits a full size keg and/or 3 cornys. I love mine but then I have done the mods, 40K Resistor, internal fan, tower cooler etc.. I also have swapped out all the original hardware, moved to a double tap with Perlick Stainless 525's, added 10ft. of product hose per tap and upgraded to a 20Lb Co2 Tank. If I had to do it again I would have just made a keezer of the sorts which I had already bought to use but then I got a deal on this and could not pass it up! $150 brand new with a small dent in the back metal.

 

[LRJet]

De-lurk and first post!

Been assisting my brother in home brew for many years, finally decided to get into it myself. My first batch of porter is in the primary now. Was "under the gun" to get a kegerator on time and budget quick. Found a couple of these Danby's on craigslist for 250 ish. Found one with the EE error and got it for $150. Cleaned up and fixed the thermocouple in 10 minutes. However like others stated temps varied widely. Decided to spend some time learning how fridges work. Long story short some of these have very tiny freon leaks. The compressor is running alot more than it should and keeping the evaporator plate (white plate in back inside of kegerator) frozen. For $4 on amazon you can get a bullet piercing valve, and add some freon (R-134a) with stop leak. Start to finish total project time less than 10 mins. Including all parts and the r-134a less than $50. Runs fantastic now!!!

If there is some interest I can post some pics of the parts and process. For those who like to tinker its a great little fridge.

Also since you now have the tools you can recharge your main fridge, freezer, car etc.......

 

[WeatherbyTom]

LRJet,
I would be interested in some pictures and the parts links. I've got a DKC586BL and the compressor seems to run continuously, but the temp is not staying where it should.

 

[Hosemantx]

De-lurk and first post!

If there is some interest I can post some pics of the parts and process. For those who like to tinker its a great little fridge.

Also since you now have the tools you can recharge your main fridge, freezer, car etc.......

Definitely interested in pics and parts. Thanks!!!